


Fiend

by Cielo_Notturno__Liriel



Series: Song of Xiath [2]
Category: Original Work, Pathfinder (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Amputation, Blades, Blood and Torture, Burns, Chains, Child Abuse, Dark, Fictional Religion & Theology, Half-Drow, Half-Elves, I hope you got the idea, Kuthites, Kyton, Masochism, Most characters are evil, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Religious Fanaticism, Sadism, Slavery, Tieflings, Torture, Underage - Freeform, Violence, Whipping, Zon-Kuthon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 13:02:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8490808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cielo_Notturno__Liriel/pseuds/Cielo_Notturno__Liriel
Summary: Young Xiath is sold to the temple of Zon-Kuthon, the Prince of Pain. There's only one way to worship the god, and it's by spilling blood.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Details of what happened in Scars. It will be dark and violent and it's about a slave girl in the temple of an evil god, and none of the characters will know what the word "consent" even means. 
> 
> A lot of things will be happening that are not cool in the real world, I do not personally believe that any of those things are ok. This is just fiction.

“My lord, with respect, I think you have been scammed. This is no Kyton, halfblood or otherwise.”

The priest focused his dreamy gaze on the Captain of the Guard, and the man shivered under the scrutiny. He was a tall, muscled fellow, but he was never at ease in the presence of the priests. They were completely crazy on a good day. And they could order the death by torture of anyone. Well, they would say that their dark god, Zon-Kuthon, demanded their worship. It was the same thing, really. Actually, most torturers were kinder and gentler than the average Kuthite priest. 

“Do you presume to question my judgement, Captain Murdoch?”

The captain was at a loss. He was sure of his assessment, but he didn’t want to contradict the priest. He looked again at the scrawny girl. She was young, pretty, barely scarred, and clearly a dark elf. Maybe a halfblood, her dark blue-gray skin was a bit unusual, but she had snowy white hair, little delicate pointed ears, and golden eyes. Drow blood, sure, but nothing more exciting than that. She appeared to be around nine or ten, but with elves it was hard to tell. How slowly did drow half breeds grow up? He had no idea. She could be older than he, for all he knew. 

“My lord, I don’t think…”

His words were cut short by a brusque gesture from the priest’s left arm. The one that was amputated just below the elbow. It was creepy when he threw it in the face of people he was talking to. Actually, in Murdoch’s opinion priests were creepy, period. Barely human, and usually missing more body parts than the ones they still had. Missing all their sanity, too. 

“That’s right. It’s not your place to think. You just need to follow my orders. Now, she’ll be under your responsibility”

The captain gaped.

“My lord…? I’m not sure I have either the time nor the proper skills to care for a child, if I might suggest…”

“You may not” The priest interrupted.  
“Our temple lies in the heart of our country, and our dark god protects us. You spend most of your time looking menacing and gambling with your underlings. I say you do have time to guard our new possession. I can see the dark god’s touch in her. It is an honor, to be her keeper. As for skills, how hard can it be to care for a little girl? Really?”

Captain Murdoch though that all he could see was a big eyed, wary girl who had no clue about anything that was happening around her. It was clear that she couldn’t understand their words, and there was no reason to assume that a child from the Underdark knew anything about the Kuthites. Sadly, it really was not his place to question orders. He distantly wondered if the priest was serious in thinking to honor him by making him play babysitter, or if this was some kind of punishment for unknown misdeeds. Well, as punishments went, there was worse. His title as captain of the Umbral Church Guard was a token one. It was too true that their main duty was to simply be there and be of assistance if needed. So, of assistance he would be. 

“As you wish, my lord”. 

Satisfied, Lord Jaseth Itheonolm of the High Priests turned and slowly limped away. He still had both his legs, and apparently he was reluctant to completely sacrify his lower limbs to the god. The choice might not be postponed indefinitely, as after every ceremony his right leg was more and more damaged. What he was doing was actually worse than cleanly cutting it off. Maybe he was the more sane of the lot, but not by much. 

Murdoch’s attention was on the girl now. She was staring at him. She was barefoot, barely covered by a tattered short shift of indefinite color. At her wrists and neck, she wore loose rings of thick iron, with a chain connecting the wrist ones. I seemed a bit too much hardware, to contain a child who didn’t seem inclined to put up any resistance. 

* * *

The man was huge. Was this a human? Xiath wasn’t sure. Until recently, she had mostly seen drows and other Underdark creatures. She knew that there were humans in the Lands Above, and that’s were she thought she was. At least he appeared to be whole. The other man, the one who paid the slaves’ merchant, was so disfigured. She desperately wanted to understand them. She was old enough to understand what had happened to her. The only surprise was that Yathrin Tal’harra didn’t order her death when usurping her sister’s throne. Her house had rothen, slaves. Some of them were low ranking individuals who were sold away when their own house fell. No, she had no delusions about what happened to her. But she wasn’t sure about the future. What would those strange people want from her?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hard slap on her face. She flinched, whilst the big man said something in a harsh tone. She lowered her eyes, and he didn’t hit her again. That was easy to understand. At home, she would never have stared at anyone of importance. She was just too bewildered by the new surroundings to remember herself. 

Her first day at the Umbral Temple was dull. The big man grabbed the chain that connected her wrists and dragged her with him, only to throw her on her knees in a small and barely furnished room, and forget about her whilst he attended to his business behind a desk. A lot of armed men came and went, some glanced curiously at her, some ignored her completely. At night, the man fed her, chained her to a wall in his room and kept ignoring her. 

The next day he released the metal chains, then didn’t seem to know what to do with her. Another guard came in and told him something, and he shrugged and followed the newcomer. The girl waited until she was sure they were well away, and then sneaked around the huge building. No one paid attention to her while she walked down large hallways that had many doors, mostly closed. When she found the tall doors that led outside, she was stopped by the guards posted there, and roughly shoved back. Xiath sighed. Inside, it was all walls of stone. She was raised in a stone palace, and this was hardly different. She wanted to see more of the Lands Above, and it appeared like it wasn’t happening anytime soon. 

She was still brooding when someone stepped in front of her. It was a tall, thin woman, with pale skin and dark hair. Everyone’s skin seemed to be pale in this place. The woman was carrying several bundle of clothes, and unceremoniously shoved some in Xiath’s hands, hissing something that sounded like orders and making some unmistakable gestures to follow her. They went down steep stairs, deep in the underground dungeons, and entered a large room that stank of sweat, body wastes, and putrefied meat. There were pallets on the floor, and some men, covered in dirty bandages, were laying on them, while others moved around busily. 

She followed the woman and left the bundles on a table, then tried to leave when two men noticed her. They wore the same garb as the man who had brought her here, and they too were horribly mutilated. The taller one, who was missing two fingers and had some nasty burn scars on his forehead, spoke to her with a calm voice, and then he suddenly grabbed her wrist and held it firmly, while the other produced a small blade and slowly cut a line on her arm. They both kept their gaze steadily on her face, while the blade kept slicing her skin, tracing a series of parallel cuts.  
It hurt. Xiath didn’t understand what was happening, just that those men seemed interested in her reaction. She couldn’t help a small whimper when the sharp pain began. Then, she bit on her lower lip until it bled, and tears lined her eyes. She never pulled, and she didn’t utter a word. After what felt like forever, but was likely no more than a few minutes, the men smiled and released her. She dared looking up then. They seemed pleased. She smiled weakly, for no reason other than to be pleasing towards them, and their faces lit up as if she had done something truly remarkable. They started to laugh, and the sound was creepy. The taller said something to the woman, and gestured them both off. 

Not knowing what else to do, Xiath kept following the woman until they reached a busy kitchen, where the woman looked for a pie and offered a piece to the girl. It was good, better than what Xiath had eaten the evening before. Was this a treat, she wondered? Surely not for having carried some clothes. 

It wasn’t until days later than she met the mutilated men again. The same woman found her every morning and asked her to help with various tasks, and that day she was summoned to a different room in the dungeon. There was no mistaking what was happening there, the chains on the walls, the blood, the sharp metal instruments. The mutilated men were carving the back of a weird creature that Xiath couldn’t identify. This time, when they saw her, the girl neared of her own will and offered her small wrist. They barely pricked her skin, but they appeared to be ecstatic at her willingness. 

So, this is what they want. Xiath smiled again while she watched tiny drops of her blood falling to the ground. People here seemed to be wary of the crippled men. For some reason she didn’t yet understand, they were respected. It could only be a good thing to be in their good graces. Upon exiting the room, she noticed that her wounds still dripped blood. Absent-mindedly, she put her arm to her mouth and licked. The sharp, metallic taste was so good.


End file.
